My Third in “The City in a Forest”

Feb 12- We arrived at Puerto Prinsesa airport aboard Cebu Pacific at around 10:30 am.

We headed straight to Princess Armicha Pension House which would be our home for 4 nights. This place is very accessible. It's just 15 minutes away from the airport via tricycle. The staff were so accommodating, friendly and very helpful, always giving us prompt services. While waiting for some of our sises who took later flight, we ate out at a small canteen across the hotel called “Masabor” where we ordered fish steak and the local "lagang"  (P75 for two persons).

At around 1 pm, our travel agent from Create Tours fetched us for our city tour. This began our exciting days in PPP. The tour package was actually P640 per person but we availed ours for lower costs since we were more than 6 persons in the group.

 

Nice place to stay. But they have weak wifi signal at the second floor.

First stop was the Crocodile Farm. Aside from newly  grass-cut areas, the place looked more refreshing than my last visit. The animals looked much more unstressed and the stalls were much more improved offering souvenirs like keychains, stuffed toys, display items, etc. 

3 month old crocs in the hatchery.

Animalistic beauties

 Mitra‘s Farm was the next stop. After paying P20, we were allowed to go inside the rest house but we had to remove our shoes. It’s quite a homey place and a nice place just to sit down and to look outside for a perfect view of the Honda bay.

Some clay pots displayed with the "halimaw sa banga"

Welcome to my Ranch.

Senator Ramon Mitra and his beautiful wife, Cecilia Aldeguer Blanco

Mga pakialamera lang ng decors sa dining table.

 A distance away was the Baker’s Hill. The place had a very impressive  improvement. There were more photo op spots and a wide garden at the back, a Shrek and Fiona's treetrunk house, Valentine archs with purple and pink coconut fruits, and more.

Love is in the air at Baker's Hill

What's a two thumbs up was that Baker’s Hills offered delivery service to our hotel for our order, on a later date, of their famous hopia so we wouldn‘t have problem with the expiration since we'll be staying for a few more days in  PPP. Hopia ube costs P50, hopia monggo and hopia baboy was sold for P45, and you  could choose whether you prefer it in vegetable or pork oil.

 Of course, a visit wouldn't be complete without a visit to the church so we were brought to Immaculate Concepcion Parish. Souvenir shopping was the last part of the city tour. Buying pasalubong to special people in my life should be on the list of what to do's in PPP. White adult Palawan shirt costs P90, white kids' shirt is P75, 500grams danggit is P200, kasoy tarts, pastillas, and other food products locally produced range from 35 per piece P100, ref magnets and key chains are worth P35, bracelets, earrings, necklaces and other jewelries range from P50 to P250, wallets are P20 to P50 depending on size, beach hats are P100. There were more stuffs to choose from if one had the budget. 

We were dropped at Kinabuch restaurant for our dinner where we had a taste of 'Lacoste'.  We ordered croc sisig, fisherman's soup (seafood soup), tuna belly and shanghai rice for only P160 each. Dining in group really saved much. I ordered a slice of blueberry cheese cake for only P90. Not bad for a delightful taste.

Croc sisig tastes like chicken.

  Dining at 'Kinabuchs' is worth what we've paid for.

Feb13- Dos Palmas Day Tour. The pick up point was at the Dos Palmas office beside NCCC mall at 7am. At the Honda bay port, we transferred to Calypso boat 2 which would bring around 90 people to the resort. The trip lasted for 1 hour. The tour package included a welcome drink-and a welcome drumbeat with that, free use of kayak, snorkeling with apparatus and life jacket, buffet lunch and free use of kabanas and beach chairs, with a fantastic view of the bay. I found the place grand, very pacifying and soothing while enjoying the ecosystem (as mangroves surround the area). Our short but grand  vacation lasted until 4pm. "Bitin!" They allowed us to bring our glasses of mais con yelo and halohalo in the boat back to the wharf. The tour costs P1840 per person including environment fee.  

 

Relaxing experience in a spectacular place.

In the evening, we headed for the Love More Conference, the major and primary purpose of our trip to Palawan. The conference lasted until February 15 at 12 PM.( More of this on "It is the Lord!")

Feb.15, almost 2PM- Our group, now fifteen of us, got on our van provided by Create tours for our Honda bay trip. The tour package of P1550 (again, we got ours at discounted rate)consists of island hopping and buffet lunch. However, we  only had the chance to visit two islands due to very limited time. Thus, we wasted no time in choosing our snorkeling gear (P150) and aqua shoes  (P150 per pair) to rent. We boarded our boat named Rhoda, disembarked at Cowrie Island to have our buffet lunch taken out (as I said, we have limited time), then quickly hopped in the boat again. We had a feast on the boat. Just as we finished the lunch-cum-snack, we docked at Pandan beach where we spent the rest of the afternoon snorkeling and swimming. The snorkeling area was just a few meters away from the shore. It was easy to lure fishes with ground ‘Skyflakes’ as compared to the bread they were selling back in the rental store. Thus, my hubby and I enjoyed the whole time snorkeling. It's a pity we were not able to go to the area where corals abound. We could have enjoyed it all the more. Playing with the fishes was the reason why we were not able to join the groupies in the island.

The island should be further enhanced to make it more pleasing to tourists. No matter how pet-loving we are, having stray dogs in the islands was not really an impressive sight. Moreso, some tourists may be uncomfortable or otherwise scared of their presence. 

We left the island at around 5PM. Some in our group headed to El Nido to seize their stay in Palawan while the rest of us went back to our respective hotels.

After washing, we headed to the baywalk for our dinner. We had to try K'na Boyet, our tour guide advised us earlier. But to our dismay, the service was not good. The staff were not smiling and our order of grilled squids (for P150 per piece) and fish (P250 per piece) were served 45 minutes and 3 follow ups later. The dish served were not at all reasons why I would go back there to dine. It seemed our orders of squids and fish were just placed over the coal; no additional flavor, not stuffed, and not even appetizing. Sadly, it’s not worth the money, I might say.

Feb 16- We went back to Manila via Cebu Pacific. Before our flight, we had our breakfast for P85 for two and lunch for P65, in the eateries just outside the hotel. As we headed for the PP Airport, I realized I'd be in the real world the next day. No more quiet space for myself.  Thoughts of what-to-do's slowly filled up my brain. And slowly, works piling up the table and the planner were becoming more and more visible. But before I lost my memories of the five-day recollection of mind and spirit, I thanked the Lord for His awesome presence and constant reminder that He was thinking of me when He created the world.

Puerto Prinsesa, Palawan was already a familiar place. But I believe it has more to offer if the local government would maintain what its known for- cleanliness and invest more in landscaping the city especially in the baywalk. They must assume the influx of tourists especially now that the Underground River is in the list of Seven Wonders in the World.  There'll be probably more kambak-kambak to Puerto Prinsesa.